Seeking maximum political gain from the string of controversies swirling around the White House, Republicans are on the attack against Democratic lawmakers who accepted donations from the union that represents Internal Revenue Service employees.

A former aide to Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, claiming the one-time presidential challenger made improper payments to an Iowa state senator.

A lawyer in Tennessee who is mysteriously linked to millions of dollars in campaign contributions steered to congressional candidates doubled his investments in the weeks before Election Day and quietly funneled $6.8 million more to a prominent Tea Party group, according to new financial statements filed with the government.

President Barack Obama told campaign donors Monday that “if the election were held today, I think it’d be close, but I think we’d win.” He said his opponents were “spending like nobody’s business” and that Democrats need substantial sums to counterpunch.

Sheldon Adelson, the largest foreign investor in China, has invested tens of millions of dollars in influencing the 2012 election and has vowed to spend $100 million to put his thumb on the scale for Mitt Romney in November.

It turns out Romney either lied to the American public or filed an incomplete and incompetent IRS return in 2010. W. Mitt Romney is hiding the document that reveals more information about the money he is hiding in financial institutions favored by despots, terrorists, drug dealers, money launderers and tax cheats.

On the eve of their Super Tuesday showdown, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum strained for an edge in Ohio on Monday and braced for the 10 primaries and caucuses likely to redefine the race for the Republican presidential nomination.